By admin 
RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — Today, the shelves at hemp dispensaries across North Carolina are packed with THC gummies, drinks, vapes and other intoxicating hemp products, but by this fall, most of them could disappear.
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A bill approved by the NC Senate on Thursday has hemp business owners bracing for what they say could be a devastating blow.
“This legislation is throwing the baby out with the bathwater,” said Eric Stahl, owner of Modern Apotheca in Raleigh. “It’s getting rid of every single retailer, farmer or manufacturer in North Carolina who carries or manufactures these products and replaces them with nothing other than a ban to make them completely illegal.”
House Bill 328 would immediately ban the sale of intoxicating hemp products to anyone under 21 if it becomes law. Violations would constitute a Class 2 misdemeanor, and businesses could face civil fines ranging from $2,500 to $50,000.
“We want to protect children from these products. And so that’s really the sense of urgency that we’ve leaned into,” said state Sen. Michael Lee (R-New Hanover).
It would also redefine hemp under North Carolina law to match a new federal standard taking effect in November: 0.4mg per container. Stahl said that’s effectively a death sentence to the industry.
“Essentially, 99% of the products you see on our shelf today would be made illegal,” he said.
A recent Whitney Economics report estimates the industry employs more than 16,000 North Carolinians and generates $3.2 billion in annual revenue, for a total economic impact of $4.4 billion.
Modern Apotheca already requires customers to be 21 or over. For years, Stahl said he has lobbied lawmakers for regulations, not an outright ban. He supports mandatory ID checks, product testing and stronger oversight of the industry.
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“We’d never want this to end up in the hands of children. The average user of hemp products today in North Carolina are women 45-plus. So, what we really have to do is eliminate access in places like vape shops and gas stations that aren’t following those same 21-plus guidelines,” he said.
For Stahl, the fight is also personal. He said he opened Modern Apotheca in 2018 after seeing how hemp products helped his wife manage Crohn’s disease.
“We got into this because we are passionate about it. If hemp becomes illegal, I actually don’t know what I do with myself. I have seven employees behind you. I have three daughters,” he said.
During debate Thursday, State Sen. Lisa Grafstein (D-Wake) warned banning the products could simply push sales underground.
“My concern is that this simply opens up a black market that will expose our kids to even worse things,” she said. “We may be causing ourselves a different problem and maybe a more intractable problem once this becomes a criminal enterprise on the streets.”
Beyond hemp, the bill also bans synthetic kratom and the sale of kratom products to anyone under 21. It also adds xylazine, a powerful veterinary sedative increasingly found in illegal street drugs, to the state’s Controlled Substances Act as a Schedule III substance.
The bill has already passed the NC Senate. If it passes the House and is signed into law, the age restrictions would take effect immediately, while the new hemp standard would begin in November to coincide with the federal law.
“I have a really, strong chance they’re going to get it done,” said Stahl. “Unless the people of North Carolina make such a racket that they understand.”
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